Josh Sundberg scores maiden Premier Cricket ton, Northcote defeat Camberwell
Northcote star Josh Sundberg discusses his breakthrough Premier Cricket century after helping guide the Dragons to be big win over rivals Camberwell.
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Northcote batsman Josh Sundberg’s breakthrough century on Saturday was a reward for patience and perseverance.
The Dragons’ No. 3 scored his maiden Premier Cricket ton to help guide his team to a comfortable 115-run victory over Camberwell.
Sundberg finished 123 not out as Northcote posted 4-280 before bowling the Magpies out for 165 at Bill Lawry Oval.
“There was a large amount of relief to get the monkey off the back,” he said.
“It was super enjoyable but I was pretty buggered by the end so I couldn’t muster too much of a celebration.
“I’ve had a mental or physical block, getting between 50 and 80 and then throwing it away, and I’ve been quite hard on myself the last few years when that’s happened.
“It’s really pleasing, it shows me when I pull my finger out I can focus for longer periods, and hopefully I can get a few more.”
The 133-ball knock included 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Sundberg first broke into the Northcote First XI in 2011-12 as a bowler but has focused solely on batting in recent seasons.
He had scored 18 half-centuries before breaking his duck, with a previous best of 87 not out in 2015-16 against Prahran.
“My first five or six years (in first grade) I started as a bowler and I only started concentrating on batting maybe four years ago,” Sundberg said.
“It was really good for my dad, he’s worked really hard with me on my batting, and he was there to see it yesterday.”
Northcote coach Steve Taylor fell just short of a half-century, dismissed for 46 off 36 balls, as every Dragons batsman reached at least 23.
“The deck is probably best in the morning, so when the captain wins the toss and bats you really need to capitalise and back him up,” Sundberg said.
“Everyone chipped in and we were able to maintain close to a run-a-ball run-rate, which certainly helped me at the other end.
“Steve came out and cleared the rope with ease, I think everyone on the bench is pretty envious of how easily he does it.”
Camberwell’s chase started disastrously with Simon Hill out second ball to Michael Edwards and Michael Topp removing James Wiseman and Tom Russ in consecutive balls to have the visitors 3-14.
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Will Townsend and Oliver Jenkins (both 39) put up a late fightback before Mark Phelan (3-14) wrapped up the tail.
“Hilly has scored thousands of runs against us, so to get him second ball was massive,” Sundberg said.
“Michael Topp has been massive for us, he’s a seasoned performer and come in to spearhead our attack having lost Sam Harbinson, and picked up a couple of critical wickets for us.”
The win lifts Northcote up to sixth, among a clutch of teams on 17 points, and a clash against Essendon at Bill Lawry Oval on Saturday.
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